"Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.”(26:49)
He offered His cheek to be kissed. Knowing.
I have always been amazed at this verse. Jesus knew, He knew Judas was full of satan, yet called him, "friend". He allowed him to kiss Him.
All the while - He knew.
Each time upon reading verses pertaining to Judas, I would put him into a box all by himself.
Until His Word taught me,
A sin is a sin. Any and all sin separates us from God.
Yet Jesus willingly went in the act of Love to The Cross. Forever bridging the gap sin causes between us and God.
I never felt I was the same as Judas. Yes, in my life I have sinned. Many a time - and will continue - I am human. The battle to serve God or self will not end until my last breath.
But - I never felt I sinned on the level as Judas.
And I have.
And I will.
And I have.
And I will.
There are no levels of sin.
Again, I stand amazed at our Christ. Knowing what he did - and still - He loved Judas. He always reached out to Judas in love, grace, and mercy. Judas rejected - not our Christ. And Judas was the one who sinned. Not our Christ.
Then He puts into my heart and mind, "Deby, who are you not to extend love, grace, and mercy - to everyone. Who has betrayed you in such a way that Judas betrayed Me? When did you go to The Cross?"
I fall to His feet - humbled. I pray for those when looking at me to see only Him - not me. I pray for Him to remove any sin from my heart. I pray I may be Christlike to all - and yet........
There are times when I hang on to the pride, bitterness and anger. Knowing all the while it hurts my Daddy and delights satan. A quote I heard awhile back keeps running through my mind, "Are you entertaining yourself with the sins that put Jesus on The Cross".
Again, I stand amazed at our Christ. Knowing what he did - and still - He loved Judas. He always reached out to Judas in love, grace, and mercy. Judas rejected - not our Christ. And Judas was the one who sinned. Not our Christ.
Then He puts into my heart and mind, "Deby, who are you not to extend love, grace, and mercy - to everyone. Who has betrayed you in such a way that Judas betrayed Me? When did you go to The Cross?"
I fall to His feet - humbled. I pray for those when looking at me to see only Him - not me. I pray for Him to remove any sin from my heart. I pray I may be Christlike to all - and yet........
There are times when I hang on to the pride, bitterness and anger. Knowing all the while it hurts my Daddy and delights satan. A quote I heard awhile back keeps running through my mind, "Are you entertaining yourself with the sins that put Jesus on The Cross".
Through the prompting of The Spirit, I am listening, Trusting, and heeding His urging more often than before. I am finding sins I once submitted to are now distasteful as I am focusing on Him. I am having faith and trust He will take care of those who wish to cause me harm and no longer feel the need to defend myself. I am seeing more of life through His eyes - the spiritual battle - and not taking things so personal, therefore making it all about me.
It was while listening to a four part sermon series on Trust by Larry Smith and he spoke about Trusting God through all our steps and I realized it is when we fall back upon our sin filled way of doing things, those are the times we are not Trusting in our ABBA. Those are the times we are walking "our" talk. It is only when we learn to totally Trust Him, only then are we able to Love as He Loves. Without any hesitation. fear. doubt. defensiveness. We are able to Love unconditionally. We are able to walk His Talk. We are able to Love without expectations.
How He grows us through the freedom of Trust to "let go and let God".
I pray for all to accept our Savior and walk on His bridge to our ABBA.
I pray all may know He too is calling them "friend".
I pray all may know He too is calling them "friend".
As He has and is calling His own, "friend".
No matter the sin. Trust in Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment